Fabien Cousteau www.fabiencousteau.org is an Advisory Board Member of our Water Innovations Foundation www.waterinnovationsfoundation.org. I asked Fabien to share his thoughts on the Gulf oil spill. “For far too long, we’ve been using our ocean planet as both an infinite resource and a garbage can. The recent Gulf oil spill vividly demonstrates the devastating impact our careless actions are causing. The only potential upside is that the tragedy is gaining public awareness and compassion. Perhaps now, we will begin to comprehend the fragility of the ocean world and the severe impact our carelessness is having on our one and only life support system. With regards to the invaluable resources our oceans provide, we must see our natural world as a bank account and start living on the interest instead of eating away at the capital. Despite the current challenges we face as a species, we must go forward and strike a delicate balance with the oceans if we are to survive well into the future. By ending our wasteful practices, weaning ourselves off our 100-year-addiction to fossil fuels and shifting to, and embracing renewable energy sources, we can a reach this critical balance. As challenging as it may be, let’s do everything we can to properly clean up this disaster, focus on how we can prevent such a tragedy from reoccurring and start nursing our planet back to health.”

One of my late father’s favorite quotes hit me while in DC. General Douglas MacArthur said, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” In regard to the Gulf oil spill I thought, “Old toxins never die and we hope they just fade away.”